WB Is Holden Home School

>>>tackle that creepy place where religious zealots hide their children away from the world.<<<

what a stereotypical judgmental comment. My children are articulate and can discuss intelligently with anyone - even adults. Both their dad and I went to public school. Hiding out? They have swimming, bowling, ice skating, roller skating, basketball, mythology & religion, art and all sorts of activities outside of our home. They volunteer for community events. If they were creepy & hiding out we would not be involved in all kinds of activities outside the home; we would "hide @ home". Say what you will about having first hand knowledge of homeschooling but whenever anything is presented on TV about homeschoolers who have done thus and so (the bad stuff), they are the exception.

Wait a second - why is every homeschooler being lumped into a group that is creepy and full of zealots? You are telling me that the one to two million homeschoolers in the USA are all creepy and zealots? And why are ANY of them being labeled in this way? Did you go around and meet them all?

I also don't understand how this can be called an inadequate for of education when colleges are looking at kids that have been homeschooled more and more because they see how those kids are excelling. I'll agree that homeschooling isn't for everyone, but for those of us who chose to get our kids out of the PS system (I didn't feel like waiting until 6th grade for my child to learn to read or let him get shot by some gun carrying idiot) and educate them at home where they will be given a more rounded and in depth education, give us some credit. My kids are ahead of their peers in all their subjects and they are perfectly acceptable socially (oh my gosh - kids can get socialization OUTSIDE of public school??!) Why do people feel the need to attack homeschoolers and call them all zealots? If some writer tried to come out with a movie about the gay and lesbian movement and called it "a creepy place full of zealots" it would never get off the ground, there would be too much outrage. Why pick on parents that are trying their best for their kids instead of shuffling them off to fail in a public school full of drugs, violence and teachers that are overworked and underpaid and have 30 kids to baby-sit in each class. The public high school I graduated from is now one of the worst in the city and even when it was one of the top schools they still couldn't challenge me enough, even in the AP and honors classes. There were just too many other people to worry about. Not everything is perfect, but hey - for those of us that are trying to give our kids the best possible start, lay off. It would be much easier to stick them on the bus every morning, instead we are choosing the road not taken - and our kids are benefiting from it.

Our clueless Society...doesn't surprise me. They have NO IDEA what Homeschooling is or what it does to an individual. I have friends and new people I meet all the time, that BOMBARD ME with questions about what homeschooling is really all about. NO ONE - I MEAN NO ONE, HAS EVER told me it was a "BAD IDEA". The comments I get repeated over and over again are: "Wow, I wish I could teach my child that way", or, "How do you do all of that?", or "Your the 10th person I know who home schools, tell me about it", or, "Gosh, your kids are just so polite and well behaved.'

As a child, I went to Public School all my life. Its amazing how I look back and see the 'garbage' they teach you that is SO UNNECESSARY to what one really needs in life. I also remember the CRUEL individuals / bullies that picked on me because I was one of the smarter ones, or the girls that didn't like me cause I had straight hair - GIVE ME A BREAK ! Get a life! This is what we are suppose to worry about when we go to school. No wonder kids can't focus and do well in school - the peer pressure and taunting is unbelievable !

Let's see, a few tidbits on homeschooling:
1.> A day of homeschooling takes about 4-5 hours (especially in the higher grades). That INCLUDES homeworks, book report reading, etc. There is no bus time travel, no recess time, no major interuptions, no hall passes to go to the bathroom (you get my drift).

2.> My kids learn the basic subjects - math, language, history, science, reading, etc. When they don't understand something, I make them stop and we go over it until they do. Basic subjects do not include: alternative lifestyles, evolution, school terroism safety (because you got kids going off the deep end), no attending unnecessary school assemblies, etc.
As a side note, my son is at a 7th grade spelling level (this was last year - he just entered the 4th grade).

3.> Lets talk socialization: My kids are black belts (going for their 2nd degrees), involved in Cub Scouts, involved in a local drama club, take horse back riding, and even have very close friends who are not homeschoolers themselves. My daughters just volunteered to work at a local October carnival-type event for kids.
New events for this year we are going to do are: attend a few plays at our local playhouse, skiing, snowboarding. And the reason we can do this: BECAUSE HOMESCHOOLERS CAN BE FLEXIABLE !

Oh, one more point. My daughter recently was sick with strep throat (yeah, MY HOMESCHOOL DAUGHTER caught strep - you guessed it, because we DO LEAVE THE HOUSE AND DO THINGS OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE - we are not BARRICADED inside, hiding from the WORLD). One good thing is she missed NO SCHOOL TIME. She just picked up where she stoppped before she got sick. So she is not behind in ANY subject.

Proud to homeschool.

Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention - My kids went to public school for 2 years. They learned NOTHING - one of my daughters had a problem with another student who called her NASTY names (names I wouldn't even repeat). My son at the time had a reading comprehension problem. The school gave me the run around on getting him some special reading help. So I finally had it and said, why I am wasting my time.

I find it hilarious that this kind of thing gets everyone's panties in a bunch. Let's just face the fact that people think we are weird! I mean, really! My family is really whacked out!!! We have five...yes, five children (and we still want more)! We have just started our eighth year in this "inadequate" form of education. Our oldest two children (ages 12 & 8) volunteer in our community. They are always begged to come help again. Nearly everywhere we go someone comments on how well our children behave. Our "inadequately socialized" children hold intelligent conversations with graduate level professors (these are people with Ph.D after their names).

I'm proud to be a homeschooler. And if people really believe that homeschooling is a small, insignificant movement, they are going to be really surprised!!!

Seriously, a good chunk of our nation's presidents have been homeschooled!

I for one enjoy seeing homeschoolers featured in all kinds of comedies, movies, and documentaries. Okay, not in "Wife Swap" because they like to pick families who are "extreme" in one way or another and come out looking like fools, but in just about every other show I have seen them in. I loved the homeschooling family in Robin Williams' "RV". Shows like this give us some exposure in the popular media, help us to laugh at ourselves, and give homeschooling more of a mainstream flavour.

I am lucky to live in an area with a very strong, growing homeschooling community and government support for homeschoolers. Where I live people don't see it as a weird, dangerous, or scary thing to do. Most people are very open and non-judgmental about it. People recognize that homeschoolers are just people who school differently, and not all cultists, driven, or even good spellers. :-)

>>Personally, I think home schooling is a really really bad idea.<<
Ahhhh what a statement coming from such a ....well, person. Let's examine why you say this Josh. National Geographic Spelling Bee: HOMESCHOOLERS beat out Public Schoolers 9 OUT OF 10 TIMES!!! On a more personal note: my 7th grader, who has been homeshooled since K, was tested this past spring and was found to have a national average in Math of 11th grade capabilities! In comparision to state peers, my child can OUT MATH 85% of High School GRADUATES!!! OHHHH YEAHHH its "really really bad idea" to show how homeschool children can get BETTER EDUCATED and show what a poor job the government is doing with taxpayers money. Not to mention that we all have to pay for the CRIME SCENE clean up at the local public schools when one of those children goes "bad" and shoots up the building and the administration and their peers. Yeah, "really, really bad idea" Josh. Hey, get a clue!

Chalk up yet one more secular homeschooler who is simply cringeing at the thought of a movie with a plot like the one you described. Interestingly, I can't think of a single homeschool family that "hides" their children away. We spend less time at home than the pulic-schooled children in our neighborhood, yet my children are articulate, tolerant and interact happily with friends of all ages. As a matter of fact, I think the only thing I haven't been able to teach them is how to band together and single out a "peer" to victimize for the next twelve years. Perhaps we can watch some of the "family" programming the WB offers to learn that.

Its hard to have a sense of humor when your words about us included 'creepy', 'religious zealots' and 'hide' all in the same sentence.
I don't really have any issue about the movie or about whether you think hs is a bad idea or not, but these generalizations get really tiring. Homeschooling where I live is definitely NOT how you describe and I am hard pressed to think of any homeschooler I know as fitting your idea of what its all about. I am sure there are those out there that do fit this stereotype, but the homeschooling movement is growing and becoming increasingly mainstream but the stereotypes of how hs might have been 25 years ago still stick around.
I prefer to think of homeschooling as a very fluid thing. Sometimes it is the right thing to do for a particular child at a particular time and sometimes it is not. It is not nearly as cut and dry as people think. Some public schools are horrid ; others are great. Some kids thrive in group environments, others lose themselves and become timid conformers. Some kids homeschool for a few years and then move into the public schools and visa versa. I don't get why everyone gets so bent out of shape about it! The isolated kid being 'hidden' from the world is definitely not the reality of the majority of homeschoolers. Most overschedule their kids as much as the next parent!---

Hi Josh,

I'd be interested to hear more of your first-hand experience. Were you home schooled? I wasn't but was put in restrictive, fundamentalist church-run schools (20 kids in my graduating class), which makes me feel like we might have had similar experiences, if I'm reading the source of your opinion correctly. I make a point to "preach" tolerance to my kids because of the way I was raised and educated. I don't think any form of zealotry is healthy.

Not all home educators choose to home school for religious reasons, however. Many choose it for the freedom to learn whatever they want, not what the state mandates (especially now with many states now requiring tests that more or less tell teachers what to teach, in what order). Some choose it simply because they feel school is a waste of time--all that standing in line, busy work, waiting, waiting, waiting. Others are frustrated by the lack of respect for the various learning styles kids have (and by the lack of respect for kids themselves). Others just want more family time, and feel that school infringes on the limited amount available to them. Whatever the reasons, most parents just want what is best for their kids. And most parents (I hope) know their kids well enough to know what is a good match for their individual kids.

I believe that there is no one right way to "do" school for every child. Different kids, different parents, different schools, and different needs all come into play.

***********************
Zealot: a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.

Now what makes you think I don't know anything about home schooling? Just because I disagree with you doesn't mean I don't know anything about it. I know quite a bit actually, from firsthand experience.

For instance, one of the things I know is that the "home school community" has absolutely no sense of humor about itself, as evidenced by these comments.

And I assure you, Warner Bros. couldn't care less whether or not homeschoolers see this movie. Growing? Sure, the same way relgious zealotism is growing. Luckily, unlike religious zealotism it's still a small enough movement that it's irrelevant. Let's hope this movie helps keep it that way.

Personally, I think home schooling is a really really bad idea. That's my opinion, and I'm entitled to it as much as you're entitled to yours. In fact, that's an opinion shared by just about everyone. I know something about it, but come on, it's home schooling not the Illuminati. You don't really need to study it to uncover it's deep, mysterious secrets and judge whether or not it's the way to go.

Why? Why must people who have no idea about a subject take it upon themselves to make a joke of it?
If Holden is such a busy screenwriter maybe she should take some time out of her busy schedule to educate herself about this subject before writing a comedy about a very serious subject. Rather than writing this comedy maybe she could consider doing some research and writing a script with some meat to it like a documentary about our nation’s schools and the illiterate children they are producing.

I AM a homeschooler BUT I am neither a particularly religious person nor a zealot. I, like many others, take offence to such stereotyping.

Warner Brothers is making a huge mistake in producing this type of movie.
The homeschool community is growing rapidly, check the stats.
You can be assured that not one homeschool family will view this film nor will any of Warner Brothers upcoming projects be looked upon kindly.

I hope this movie never gets off the ground. There are so many homeschooling familes which this will upset especially when the writer/producers don't have a clue at homeschooling. I am a homeschooling mother and the PUBLIC SCHOOL system is inadequate for my son. Only homeschooling him is adequate for my son. We are not religious zealots either. We homeschool b/c my son is gifted.

This movie could should be a complete mockery of homeschooling by playing on the perpetuating prejudices against it, which is to say that the movie could portray homeschoolers as social misfits as some would perfer to think of us, or the movie could educate people about the genuine substance of homeschooling in a light comical way. I am hopeful that the purpose of the movie is to accomplish the latter.